Feed mechanism for drying apparatus.



1-. KUKKUOK. FEED MECHANISM FOR DRYING APPARATUS. APPLICATION FILED SEPT13, 1906.

1,081,238, Patented De0.9-, 1913.

W! T NESSES 1N VEN T 01?.

ATTORNEY.

F. KUKKUGK. FEED-MECHANISM FOB. DRYING APPARATUS.

urmonmn FILED SEPT. 13, 1906.

1,081,238. Patented Dec.9,1913.

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fifK/ffi/f/i fi fl/rkzm m W BY M ATTORNEY.

barren STATES rarssr OFFICE.

FREDERICK KUKKUGK, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO THE PHILADELPHIATEXTILE MACHINERY COMPANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPO-RATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

FEED MECHANISM FOR DRYING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent Patented Dec. 9, 1913.

Application filed September 13, 1906. I Serial No. 334,448.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat I, FREDERICK KUKKUGK, a citizen of the United States,residing at St. Louis; State ofMissouri, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Feed Mechanism for Drying Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact descriptiomreference being had tothe accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof. i

My invention has relation to improvements in feed-mechanism or conveyersfor drying apparatus; and it consists in the novel construction. andarrangement of parts more fully set forth in the specification andpointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the drying chamber.showing a portion of the mechanism exposed; Fig. 2 is an end elevationof the same; Fig. 3 is a top plan thereof broken at the middle; Fig. tis an enlarged longitudinal vertical section on the line H of Fig. 5, ofa series of juxtaposed conveyers, the arrows showing the direction ofinsertion of the stock or veneer to be dried, and the direction of itsdischarge respectively; Fig. 5 is an end elevation of Fig. 1, with partsbroken away; and.

thereof which is as follows:

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail, enlarged, showing construction of thecihain linkand trusstube coupled thereto.

The present invention finds special application in thedrying of sheetsof veneer, and its object is to support the veneer in its pas sagethrough the drying chamber in such manner that the sheets will haveperfect freedom of movement while contracting or shrinking under theaction of the heat to which they are subject during the dryingoperation. v

A further object is' to produce a conveyer whlich shall be strong, andyet simple in detai s.

The advantages of the invention will be better apparent from a detaileddescription Referring to the drawings, C, represents a drying chamber ofany conventional design, being provided with a coil, of steam pipe P onone side (or any equivalent source of heat the heated air being.properly distributed throughout the chamber by the action of the fans Fwhose shafts are coupled by a belt B on the outside of the casing the 20below.

I conveyers (Fig. 1').

- From the pinion 10 leads a sprocket chain 11, one lap thereof passingover an idler 12, the lower end of the chain passing over a sprocketwheel 13 mounted on a shaft 14-. This shaft carries a pinion 15 whichmeshes with a gear wheel 16 on the shaft 17, the latter carrying apinion 18 which in turn meshes with a pinion 19 above, and a pinion Thepinion 19 in turn meshes with a. pinion 21, and the pinion 20 mesheswith 'a pinion 22. The several pinions 19, 20, 21, 22 are mounted on theends of the front shafts a of the endless conveyors presently to bereferred to, the shafts Z) constituting the opposite shafts of the saidconveyers. The shafts a (which together with shaft 17 are the driveshafts) are of course longer t an the shafts Z), being extended toaccommodate the pinions carried by them as already described. The shaftsa are mounted in brackets d as shown with the exception of the centershaft 17 carrying the pinion 18. The opposite ends of the respectiveconveyer shafts have mounted thereon the sprocket wheels 23 over whichpass the sprocket chains 24; and since'there are four' pairs of shafts.a, b, and one pair 17*, it follows that there will be five endless orchain The gearing above described imparts motion to the conveyers in thedirection fully indicated by the plain-arrows in Fig. 1, that is to saythe adjacent laps of, onecontiguous .pair' of conveyors will'travel inone direction, while the adjacent laps of the next succeeding contiguouspair will travel in the opposite direction, as fully indicated by thefeathered arrows inFig. 1. This results of course from the fact that onelap of each chain travels in the opposite direction from its oppositelap. The stock or articles to be dried are inserted between the adjacentlaps of contiguous pairs of conveytube 25 made of sheet metal,

ers, making it possible 'to feed the green veneer from both ends of thedrying chameral slot t on the side of the inner longitudinal edge of thelink, said slot communicating with the chamber of the socket. Disposedbetween the opposite sockets of the pair of sprocket chains constitutinga given conveyer is a transverse spacing member or said tube being splitlongitudinally. The split is bounded by the triangular ribs or arches wwhich serve as trusses'or stiffening members for the tube, the oppositetapering ends' of the ribs being inserted into the split sides of thesockets as shown. The chains are of the roller link variety, the pinsupon which the rollers are mounted being arranged ofi center, that is tosay, nearer to one edge of the link member than to the other, as shownin Fig. 6, and the roller being thus mounted, projects beyond one edgeonly of the link. The opposite edge of the link is fiat to receive thecorresponding edge of the link of an adjacent conveyer resting thereon.It will be seen that the peripheral wall of each tube is thus removedfrom the peripheral walls of its supporting sockets, a fraction of aninch (corresponding tothe thickness of the socket wall); and when thelaps of two contiguous pair of conveyers (between which the veneer isfed) are brought into position for feeding, the transverse tubes25 oftwo such contiguous conveyers will be spaced apart a distance equal totwice the thickness of the wall of the socket (Fig. 5). In other words,the plane of travel of the outer peripheral surfaces of the combinedseries of tubes constituting the supports for the veneer sheets, iswithin the plane of travel of the outer peripheral surfaces of thesockets formed on the chains, so that if the thickness of the socketwall is one-eighth of an inch, the tubes of any pair of contigu- 4 ousconveyers will be spaced one quarter of an inch. In fact I have foundthat even less space is sufficient to allow perfect freedom of movementto the thin veneer sheet as the same is shrinking or contracting duringthe drying process. The lower setof the, two series of tubes betweenwhich the veneer is advanced serve to support the veneer, while theupper set are practically out of contact, and are not brought intorequisition until they pass along the upper lap of the conveyer to whichthey belong, when they serve to support the veneer sheets introducedfrom the opposite end of the drying chamber. The truss ribs orstifi'eners w prevent sagging of the tubes 25, so that the veneer sheetsare supported evenly during the drying operation. The speed of travel ofthe conveyers is slow and sheets of green veneer V introduced at eitherend will come out perfectly dry at the opposite end with only a singlepassage through the chamber.

It will be seen from the foregoing description of my preferred form ofconveyer that the latter being composed of link chains, sheet metaltubes, truss rods, etc., is of considerable weight, and I have foundthat such conveyers Weighing approximately thirty pounds to the runningfoot may be usefully employed, although of course 1 do not limit myselfto the use of conveyers of this particular weight. The object inemploying a conveyer of substantial weight is not only to secure therequisite strength and wearing capacity, but also to render saidconveyer capable of restraining the warping of all characters andthicknesses of veneers including those having the greatest tendency towarp or curl. It is the provision of the space between the opposed tubesof ad acent conveyers which permits the use of a conveyer of suflicientwarping of thick, tough veneers, without causing splitting of the tenderthin veneers when dried in the same drier. As the thicker veneers doinotrequire relief from the weight of the upper conveyer a single machineis, as will be seen, capable of drying veneers of varying characters andthicknesses. Having described my invention what I claim is:

1. Inoa feed mechanism, an endless conveyer comprising apair of linkchains, sockets formed on the adjacent inner surfaces of the linkshaving peripheral slots weight to restrain the links, longitudinallysplit spacing tubes inserted into the sockets, the splits havingbounding arch ribs tapering toward the end of the tubes, the ends of theribs being passed through the. slotted portions of the sockets, theperipheral lines of the sockets being substantially flush .with theupper edges of the links.

2. In a machine for drying sheet material, feed mechanism comprising apair of juxtaposed endless conveyers having series of transverse ribs orbars, the ribs of the lower run of the upper conveyer cooperating withthe ribs of the upper run of the lower conveyer to confine bet-ween themthe material to be dried, with means secured to the outer edges of theconveyers for spacing said cooperating ribs a fixed distance apart.

3. The combination in a veneer drying. machine, of endless conveyersarranged one aboveanother, the contiguousruns of said conveyersco-aotirigto confine between them the veneer to be dried, with spacingmeans for maintaining said contiguous runs apart a greater distance thanthe thickness ot' the veneer and in parallel relation, whereby freedomor movement or the veneer will be permitted, but warping restricted.

t. 'llhe combination in a drier for drying sheet material, of'en ollessconveyers disposed one above another, the contiguous runs of saidconveyers co-acting to confine between them the material to be dried,with spacing means for maintaining the body portions-of said contiguousruns apart a greater distance than the thickness of said sheet materialand in parallel relation, whereby freedom of movement at said ma terialwill be permitted, but warping restricted.

5 The combination in a drying apparatus, of two endless conveyers onemounted above another, each consisting of linked members at each sideand body port-ions supported by the linked members, the linked membersof the lower run of the upper conveyerresting directly upon the linkmembers of the upper run of the lower conveyer, the body portion of theconveyers being spaced apart.

6. The combination in a drying apparatus, oi two endless conveyers, onemounted above another, each consisting of link members at each side andtransverse bars or tubes supported by the link members, the link membersof the lower run of the upper conveyer resting'directly upon the linkmembers of the upper run oi the lower conveyer, the transverse bars ortubes of the conveyers being spaced apart.

7. The combination in a conveyer chain, of a series of links connectedby pins arranged off center, said links being fiat on one edge, a seriesof wheels mounted on the pins and projecting beyond the other edge ofthe links, and a boss projecting from one side of each link, said bosshaving a socket formed therein.

resist the warping tendency of various thicknesses and characters ofveneers, and means for spacing the contiguous runs of said conveyers 'aslight distance apart whereby the thin veneers will be relieved of theweight of the upper conveyor and the splitting of said thin veneersthereby avoided.

9. The combination in a veneer drying machine of an endless slattedconveyer arranged to carry the veneer through the ma chine, asecondendless slatted comeyer arranged above said carrying conveyer andco-acting therewith to confine the and restrain the same from unduewarping or curling, said second conveyor having sufiicient'weight toresist the warping tendency of various thicknesses and charactersofveneers, and means for spacing the coin tiguous runs of said conveyersa-dight distance apart whereby the thin veneers will be relieved oftheweight of the upper conveyer and the splitting of said thin veneersthereby avoided. 7

10. A feed mechanism-comprising a pair of juxtaposed conveyers, andhaving transverse rib formations between which the artielse may beconfined, and means disposed along the length of the conveyers forkeeping the adjacent laps of said conveyors spaced permanently apart,substantially as set forth.

11. A feed mechanism comprising apair of juxtaposed conveyers, andhaving transverse rib formations between which the articles may beconfined, and means disposed at the sides of the conveyers for keepingtheadjacent laps of said conveyers spaced permanently apart,substantially as set forth.

12. A feed mechanism comprising a pair of juxtaposed conveyers, andhaving transverse rib formations between which the article may beconfined, and spacing devices at the sides of, and between the conveyersfor keeping the adjacent laps of said conveyers spaced permanentlyapart, substantially as set forth.

13. A feed mechanism comprising a pair of juxtaposed conveyers havingtransverse ribs or bars spaced suitable distances apart, the materialtreated being inserted between the adjacent laps of the conveyers andconfined between the atoresaid transverse formations, and means atopposite ends of the transverse formations for permanently keeping theadjacent laps of said conveyers spaced a suitable distance apart,substantially as set forth.

MFA feed mechanism comprising a pair of juxtaposed conveyers havingtransverse ribs or bars spaced suitabledistances apart, the-materialtreated being inserted between theadjacent laps of the conveyers andconfined between the aforesaid transverse formations, and means disposedalong the sides of the conveyers for permanently keeping the adjacentlaps of said conveyers spaced a suitable distance apart, substantiallyas set forth.

15. A feed mechanism comprising a pair ofjuxtaposed endless conveyershaving transverse ribs or slats spaced suitable distan ces apart, a ribor slat on one conveyer.

acting in opposed relation to a rib or slat on the adjacent conveyer,the material treated eing inserted between the successive pair ofopposed slats ofthe respective conveyers, and means disposed on theconveyers for permanently keeping the members of the several pairs ofopposed slats a suitable distance apart, substantially as set forth.

16. A feed mechanism comprising a pair of juxtaposed endless conveyershaving transverse ribs or slats spaced suitable distances apart, a ribor slat on'one conveyer acting in opposed relation to arib or slat onthe adjacentconveyer, the material treated being inserted between thesuccessive pair of opposed slats of the respective conveyers, and meansdisposed on the sides of the conveyers for permanently keeping themembers of the several pairs of opposed slat-s a suitable distanceapart, substantially as set forth.

17. A feed mechanism comprising a pair of juxtaposed transverselyslatted conveyers contacting along the sides, the slatted portionsforming the available carrying surfaces of the conveyers between saidsides and being permanently spaced a suitable I 18. A feed mechanismcomprising a pair of juxtaposed endless conveyers having transverse ribsor slats spaced suitable distances apart and forming the availablecarrying surfaces for said conveyers, the sides of the opposing laps ofthe conveyers being in contact and the slats being mounted to effect apermanent separation between the opposed surfaces of the adjacent lapsduring such lateral contact of the conveyers, substantially as setforth.

19. A feed mechanism comprising a air of transversely slatted sectionstrave in conjointly and in juxtaposition and closed on the sides, thetransverse formations of the respective sections being permanentlyspaced apart, substantially as set forth. r y In testimony whereof Iaffix my signature,

in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK KUKKUCK.

Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK, MARY D. WHITCOMB.

